Poland okays forcible castration for pedophiles (Reuters)

[Drew Wilson]

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland on Friday approved a law making chemical castration mandatory for pedophiles in some cases, sparking criticism from human rights groups.

Under the law, sponsored by Poland's center-right government, pedophiles convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years or a close relative would have to undergo chemical therapy on their release from prison.

"The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person," the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said late last year he wanted obligatory castration for pedophiles, whom he branded 'degenerates'. Tusk said he did not believe "one can use the term 'human' for such individuals, such creatures."

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Didn't someone here advocate this action on pedo's?

[mountain_rage]

The reason this is not acceptable in most of the world is due to the same reasons that amputation and the death penalty has fallen out of use Often times people are falsely accuse and convicted and there will never be a way to be 100% certain of guilt. It has also been found that if you increase the penalties too harshly the individual is more likely to do whatever it takes to get out of the charges, including killing the child. Sure some people probably deserve it, but it simply doesn't always work that way. Thankfully many will opt for the procedure voluntarily as they see the need.

[Tic3]

"The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person,"

I disagree with the reasoning stated here. How would this improve someone's mental health?

I'm also not sure that castration would lower someone's libido. Certainly it would cause the equipment to fail to work, but that wouldn't necessarily suppress the urge.

From everything I've ever read, rape is a crime of violence as much (or more) than it is a sex crime. Castration may prevent the sexual part of the crime, but might it not increase the likelihood of violence if the criminal still has the urges but is physically unable to satisfy them (even in a legal manner)?

[mountain_rage]

Well, apparently I've been duped for years. This is actually a good plan. From wikipedia.

Chemical castration is the administration of medication designed to reduce libido and sexual activity, usually in the hope of preventing rapists, pedophiles and other sex offenders from re-offending. Unlike surgical castration, where the testes are removed through an incision in the scrotum,[1] chemical castration does not actually castrate the person, nor is it a form of sterilization, hence the term "chemical castration" has been called a misnomer.[2]. Chemical castration is generally considered reversible when treatment is discontinued; in the case of Depo Provera, "no permanent physical change is wrought in the body."[2] Castration has, from time to time, been used as an instrument of public and/or judicial policy despite concerns over human rights and possible side effects.[3][4]

Since its not permanent I really don't see a problem with this ruling. Mind you some people would claim it can be abused by government to prevent certain people from breeding.

[Atheist Icon]

I don't see the problem at all if the person is 100% guilty of the crime. 100% being if the DNA matched the semen, or if they were caught in the act. Kinda hard to disprove it.